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In a proactive move to strive for success, high school students and their parents attended a day-long conference at The University of Texas-Pan American Thursday, Nov. 7, to learn about higher education options.

The conference -- Students Taking Responsibility to Investigate the Value of Education or STRIVE - focused on the fields of agriculture and food sciences.

"Today you and your parents will learn about the many different careers in education and more importantly the different colleges and universities that will provide you the tools to help you achieve those goals," said Dr. Miguel A. Nevárez, UTPA president.

"You students need to take responsibility in investigating higher education and that's what we are doing here today. You will also learn that if you work hard and take the right courses in high school and apply yourself, not only can you go to college, but you will be successful in college."

Dr. Ron Rosati, dean of the College of Agriculture & Human Sciences at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, stressed the income differences between high school and university graduates.

"People with a bachelor's degree earn an average of $20,000 per year over people with a high school degree," Rosati said.

Keynote speaker, Dr. Rumaldo Juarez, president of Texas A&M University-Kingsville, declared that 60 to 70 percent of people in the valley over the age of 25 had not completed high school. He went on and said that education is not stressed equally among men and women within the Hispanic community. In many families it is considered more important for men to get an education than women, he said.

"Don't listen to that message," Juarez added. "The worst thing you can do as a female is not get an education - as a female you owe it to yourself to get one."

The conference was sponsored by Texas Cooperative Extension, Texas A&M University - Kingsville and USDA-HIS.